Over the past year, there has been a spike in hate crimes across the United States. For the Sikh American community, it has been another prolonged moment in our nation’s history that demands our vigilance and resolve.

Part of that resolve is directly tied to the security of your gurdwara. While we all pray that another Oak Creek massacre will never happen again, we must all take the appropriate steps to ensure that our houses of worship remain safe.

That is why earlier this year the Sikh Coalition sent a Gurdwara Security Toolkit to more than 200 gurdwaras in the United States and then offered to connect gurdwaras with security consultants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These consultants offer free advice on the steps we all must be taking to strengthen security at our houses of worship. Visit the Sikh Coalition's Facebook page.

My gurdwara in Lexington, Kentucky is one of more than 40 gurdwaras nationwide that have worked with the Sikh Coalition to take the necessary steps required to make our houses of worship safer.

This past summer, a security consultant visited my gurdwara and gave us detailed security recommendations. I, along with my sangat, believe implementing these recommendations will make our community more resilient, and it gives us all peace of mind that we are taking steps to protect our gurdwara.

If your gurdwara would like, you can schedule a security consultation by contacting Aasees Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s Community Development Manager, at aasees@sikhcoalition.org.

As a community, we refuse to live in fear, but we also must take the logical proactive steps to remain safe. I hope all of our gurdwaras will see the value in this project and partner with the Sikh Coalition to make our communities safe.